


What You Won't Do For Love

by broflovskiis



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: 70's AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- 70's, C-3PO and R2-D2 are humans, Drug Use, Fluff and Angst, Han is a mechanic, Luke has a prosthetic hand, M/M, Pining, Romance, Slow Burn, its the 70s what do you expect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:56:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5742958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broflovskiis/pseuds/broflovskiis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 1977 and Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa are going into their first year of college together. All Luke wanted was to get out of a shitty town and meet the right people, make some new friends, and get a fresh start. But when his sisters car breaks down he strikes an unexpected friendship with the rugged mechanic Han Solo. There's something about Han that Luke can't really put his finger on, something about him that makes Luke feel all sorts of strange. <br/>Something he won't understand until it's too late.</p>
<p>Alternately titled: Luke and Han fall in love and everyone wears bell-bottoms</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We're all alright

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody!! This is my first Skysolo fic, I hope you all enjoy it. This is probably gonna be a pretty long fic, so buckle in because we are going for A Ride. First I wanna give a shout out to tumblr user http://lukeskyvalkcr.tumblr.com/, who was a huge inspiration for this fic! You should totally check out their road trip au: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5667226/chapters/13054300
> 
> It's honestly amazing so please read it if you haven't already! Also big thanks to them for letting me borrow their prosthetic hand idea for this fic.
> 
> The name of this fic is inspired by my fave song "What you won't do for love" By Bobby Caldwell. I think it fits the tone of this fic very nicely. This fic was also inspired heavily by this 8tracks playlist of 70's music that you should give a listen to! http://8tracks.com/clairexoff/forever
> 
> This chapter is honestly just a lot of sibling bonding type stuff, but I will try to get to the Han/Luke relatively soon!
> 
> Finally, feel free to comment or send me a message at my blog littlestlary.tumblr.com if you have any questions or just wanna talk about skysolo. Thank you so much for reading and i'll try to keep this updated pretty frequently!

“Now don’t forget to pack the essentials, Luke, alright? Your typewriter, socks, shampoo, and a warm coat. It’ll get a lot colder over here in Oregon than you’re probably used to.” The tinny voice of Luke’s sister spoke over the phone as he packed, going over their plans once again. Luke smiled at Leia’s tone, speaking to him as if he was years younger, rather than just minutes. He didn’t mind it really, knowing that he probably would have left his socks on top of his bed without her reminding him. 

“I know Leia, thank you. See you at the train station, okay?”

“12:30 like we planned?”

“Mhm.” Luke answered absentmindedly, folding up his socks and putting them away into his suitcase, before looking at something he had set aside from his things. Something he had intended to pack last.

“Perfect. See you tomorrow, Luke. Try and get some sleep, okay? I Love you.” Leia said warmly as she always did before they finished talking to each other on the phone.

“You too.” Luke said, before hanging his corded phone back up onto his bedside table from his spot on the floor. His room was mostly cleared out by now, save for some boxes, a stripped bed, and some furniture. He sighed, tired from the busy past couple of days before he was meant to leave for college. It was usually so quiet in his town, but things always got a little loud when a class of seniors graduated and started heading to college. He didn’t mind it, but it was exhausting when it happened to him.

He ran his good hand through his hair before picking up what he had purposefully decided not to pack with the rest of his clothes and books. Something he didn’t want to get wrinkled by the rest of his belongings.

It was an old photo captured on polaroid, the ink scrawled at the bottom smudged but still legible. “Eugene Oregon, ‘72” was written in Leia’s cursive handwriting. In the photo were two younger versions of himself and his sister, smiling and standing in front of a clear blue lake in the summer. It was the first summer they had met, after their adopted parents had decided it was time for each of them to know about each other. 

It was a really magnificent summer, he remembered. Not too hot or anything, especially when camped out between a green forest and a lake that stretched on forever. Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen had told Luke about his sister a few weeks before school had let out for the summer, claiming that they didn’t want things to be “more complicated than it needed to be” before the two of them were a little older. Luke had been in complete disbelief at first, having a hard time grasping onto the idea that he could suddenly just have a sister. He knew what happened to his real parents. He knew that his father had died from work related heart failure, most likely due to stress, and his mother had died not too long after during childbirth. His Aunt and Uncle, and presumably Leia’s parents, were family friends. 

Luke never knew what it was like the have a nuclear family like his friends at school, and in general, he was okay with that. He loved his Aunt and Uncle, even if they were sometimes a little too set in their ways for his taste. But after the initial shock, the news that he had a sister who shared his same blood, his same eyes, and hopefully same interests to some degree, filled his heart in a way he had never felt before. 

The camping trip took place the following July, Luke and his Aunt and Uncle making the long drive up from Nevada to Oregon, where Leia’s parents owned a permanent campsite on a Eugene lake front. Luke had never seen such a beautiful place in his whole life. Nevada was pretty much the equivalent of a Mcdonalds bag being crumpled up and then thrown into a pit of sand in his eyes. It was a complete corporate wasteland, full of empty apartment buildings and abandoned chain restaurants. The greenery was sparse and the heat was unbearable and Luke had never been more thrilled to be literally anywhere else.

He remembered being introduced to his sister for the first time. He had gotten out of the car after a 14 hour long drive, limbs weak from sitting for so long and the side of his hair a mess from sleeping on a pillow propped up against the window. He looked ridiculous, rubbing his eyes as he stretched his legs for the first time in several hours.

“Luke dear-”, His Aunt Beru had said to him, smiling very softly. “Someone is waiting to meet you.” She motioned over for him to come sit at one of the picnic tables that had been set up, and that’s when he saw his sister for the first time. 

She was very skinny, save for a little bit of baby fat that had stored itself in her cheeks, and seemed to be very short from where she was sitting. She wore her hair in a big bun atop her head, little wispy baby hairs poking out here and there, and wore an oversized tshirt with jean short shorts. She didn’t look like Luke very much at all, much to his disappointment, but he tried not to let it bother him as he moved over to sit opposite of her at the picnic table.

Their adoptive parents dispersed pretty quickly, wanting to give the two time to get to know each other. Luke awkwardly clenched and unclenched his hand, a nervous habit he had formed over the few years of only having one hand to work with. He cleared his throat, looking up at Leia through his golden bangs before finally speaking. “Hey.” He said, his throat cracking just slightly. It was very common for him these days, as he was just on the cusp of turning 13. He blushed significantly, groaning internally at his awkwardness.

Leia laughed. It wasn’t mean spirited or anything, but very friendly, as she outstretched her right hand for him to shake. “I’m Leia Organa. My parents told me I was born two minutes before you were born, so I’m your older sister, which means you don’t have to be nervous around me or anything, okay?”. Leia was Luke’s age, but already seemed years above him confidence wise. He could only dream to be that confident at his age.

Luke went to outstretch his right hand, but hesitated, not wanting to freak Leia out with his prosthetic. Leia had no hesitation about shaking his hand though, and earnestly asked him, “What happened to your hand?”. There was no malice behind the question, so Luke didn’t mind answering. 

“I got into a biking accident when I was 10. Me and my friend were racing each other, but my bike skidded out of control and I fell into the middle of the road. A really big truck ran over it and made it pretty much useless, so they just amputated it. My friend Wedge felt pretty sore about it for a while, but I don’t really mind it too much. I get to do a heck of a lot of less schoolwork now, anyways.” Luke said, grinning. 

This made Leia laugh again, and he decided from now on he was gonna make her laugh as much as possible. She came off as the kind of person who maybe needed to laugh about stuff a little more. “It’s cool you’re so relaxed about it,” She said. “I get freaked out when my mom suggests we cut my hair, I don’t know what I’d do if someone just cut off my hand.”

Luke laughed then, too. It was nice to be able to talk about it without getting those sympathetic pity eyes adults always give you. He looked Leia in the eyes, finally getting comfortable enough with her to do so, and noticed something: Green. The same green he saw looking at himself in the mirror, bordering on hazel but not quite there. Nothing had ever given him so much comfort, knowing someone was looking through the same eyes that he was.

They talked long through the night, over campfire, through mouthfuls of smores, and even later that night when they begged to share a tent together. They talked about absolutely anything. Luke went on and on about his model plane kits, about pilots he admired, about kids in class back home, and about all the weird ways they found to have fun in a town full of absolutely nothing. 

“We like to fill soda bottles full of mentos and watch them blow up.” Luke had said around a mouthful of marshmallow, sitting opposite Leia in an oversized camp chair. Leia had snorted, taking a sip of her own soda she had been drinking. “That’s such a boy thing to do.” She had said, but she said it with a sly smile. “We did that in my science class last year. I got to put the candy into the bottle.

Luke learned a lot about Leia, too. He learned that she was head of her middle school's ASB, and she ran track and volunteered at her local rec center to work with really young kids. She said she wanted to be the president one day, so she could “Fix all the stuff republicans liked to mess up”. Apparently her parents were hardcore liberals, her father even being the Senator of Oregon for the past few years. Luke also found out Leia was very rich, which made him very envious. His Aunt and Uncle made just enough for the three of them to get by, and disposable income was usually scarce in his family.

Leia wasn’t the type of person to act like her parents were just like everybody else or something though. She knew she was very privileged to have what she had. She said she “hated all the girls in her class who spent money on whatever they wanted without even thinking about it.”, and had said that she saved most of her money for when she was older.

Leia wasn’t a goody-goody though, Luke realized quickly. She liked adventures just as much as he did. She said she loved sneaking into her neighbors yards when they weren’t home and pretending like she was an explorer. Luke agreed that sounded very fun, but figured he would get in a lot of trouble with his Aunt Beru if he ever got caught.

Leia smiled. “That’s why you don’t get caught.” She said, and Luke laughed.

The rest of the trip went just like that. Every morning they woke up and talked and talked and talked, telling each other stories from back home, talking about things they liked, or telling each other dirty jokes under whispers before busting out laughing. Luke liked swimming in the lake, and Leia liked climbing trees, and they both liked doing these things together.

The trip ended eventually, and they both went home with the promise of writing each other and sending pictures and making phone calls. Luke’s Aunt even bought him his own rotary phone so that he could call her whenever he wanted to. And he did, at least once a week, to vent about his boring life back home or get advice from his older sister, and Leia did the same thing to him.

They were each other’s very best friends. Luke had a hard time making friends in high school, considering he only went to a school of about 300 people. Leia had a hard time keeping friends at her Private School, as everyone was always way too snobby for her, and Luke was always way more down to earth than anyone she knew anyways. This went on for five years, until today, when Luke was finally getting out of a town he learned to hate and was moving into a dorm at a college him and Leia would both be attending.

Luke looked back at the young faces of him and his sister for just a second more before putting the picture into the front pocket of his shirt, and zipping up his suitcase.


	2. Life is old there, Older than the trees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke sets off for college, but maybe has more baggage than just his suitcase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter is here! I wanted to upload this earlier today, but I needed to do /a lot/ of editing before I was happy with it. And I am! I'm uploading the next chapter right after I upload this one, they /were/ just going to be one big chapter but I wanted to keep the chapter sizes consistent to some extent. Han and Luke interactions in the next chapter, don't you worry. That's why I'm uploading them in succession, so we can get to the good stuff. >:)
> 
> Also, the chapter name is in reference to the song "Country Road's." All the chapters are going to be lyrics or name's of old songs. Aren't I clever? (Answer: I'm not.)
> 
> Anyway's please enjoy! Comment here or send me a message at my tumblr littlestlary.tumblr.com if you have any questions or comments.

Luke got up early the next morning, before his alarm clock had gotten a chance to wake him. The room was filled with an unmistakable sound. For the first time that summer, it was raining, the drops making a calm pattering noise against his window. Of course, he thought, on the day that he’s supposed to leave, does it rain for the first time in forever. A fleeting thing in the desert state that he wouldn't even be able to enjoy.

Maybe it was a send off, he thought to himself, cracking open his eyes and looking through the curtains to see a grey, overcast sky. He’d really like to think it was something good like that, and not a bad Omen of some sorts, trying to scare him into staying here forever.

Though he doubted there was anything scary enough to keep him here even a day longer.

He got out of his bed slowly, throwing the blanket off of him and sitting up, letting his gaze drift lazily around his room. The walls were a light blue, and before they had taken everything down, they had been almost completely covered. Covered in posters of planes, cars, of movies he liked, old drawings, pictures of friends, everything you would expect a 17 year old boy to have hanging on the walls of his room, but still felt so uniquely him.

Now, looking at his walls completely bare for the first time in over a decade, he felt something in his stomach knot up. It was the first time the thought crossed his mind that maybe he would miss it all. Miss living in this room. He quickly shook the thought from his mind. He’d miss his friends, sure, and having his own room, but he wouldn’t let himself get stuck in a town that refused to change. Sentimentality was a liar and Luke wasn’t about to let it shackle him down.

It was a thought he had carried with him for many, many years. Don’t let this place become such a big part of you that you can’t leave. Not ever.

It wasn’t that his hometown was the worst place in the world, but something about being here just made Luke feel sad. A kind of sadness that had sat at the bottom of his shoes and made every step feel a little too heavy, for many, many years.

Seeing the faces of all his friends and knowing most of them would get small jobs here, get old, and die here, really freaked the kid out. This town was it’s own self contained universe, that seemed to recycle its own values and ideas of how things should be generation after generation. He had to outrun it. He had to become something bigger than it.

Luke blinked, realizing he had gotten swept up in his thoughts again, before getting out of bed.

He got up and dressed slowly, mind floating somewhere far off. After making sure all of his bags were accounted for, he headed down the hall and into their small kitchen. 

His Aunt and Uncle were seated at the table, drinking coffee. Something about the air around them was very solemn. Something like the feeling of a movie ending, and the credits rolling as everyone silently gets out of their seats and stepped back into daylight.

This, in it's own way, was an ending. Though Luke didn't think his life nearly as grand as a movie. 

He sat down in the empty chair opposite his adoptive parents, where a plate of his Aunt Beru’s pancakes had been set out for him. He smiled softly, taking a large bite. She always made them from scratch. His Aunt’s food, he thought, is what he would miss the most out of everything.

“Are you excited?” His Aunt finally said, breaking the silence, and Luke looked up from his food to see that she had a very sad smile on her face. His Uncle Owen looked much less sad, and one could even say he looked proud, lines on his face pulled up by a slight smile.

Luke swallowed his food before answering her. “Of Course.” Luke said, smiling. “I finally get to be around people my age who aren’t the same dozen kids i’ve known since kindergarten. I just hope my dorm mate isn’t a total weirdo or anything.”

“I’m sure he’ll be very nice.” His Aunt said, taking another sip of her coffee.

There was silence for a few more beats as he continued eating, before his Uncle finally spoke up, large smile plastered on his face. “We’re very proud of you, Luke. It’s not every day your nephew goes off to such a nice University.”

Luke’s face reddened slightly, looking away before speaking up again. “It’s not that nice, Owen. It’s not like Harvard or anything.” Luke kept eating, embarrassed at his Uncle's foreign praise. His Aunt and Uncle weren’t ones to get very sappy with him, and such praise felt almost overbearing to him.

“But you worked hard to get there anyhow! No need to be bashful my boy.” His Uncle declared. He stood up, taking his overly sugared coffee with him. “I’ll make sure to send you off before you and Beru head out. I’ve gotta get started on some chores before noon.” He gave Luke a clamp on the shoulder, before heading out the backdoor to get started on the same yard work he did everyday.

He finished his food very quickly after that, and soon enough, him and his Aunt where in the car, having packed everything into the trunk and Luke sharing goodbyes with his Uncle. His Uncle wasn’t one to be tearful, and the goodbyes were very modest in comparison to the emotional wrecks some parents liked to be when their “little boy had grown up”, or something to that extent.

The plan was for Beru to drive Luke halfway there, and for Luke to take a train the other half, “to save on gas.”. This left him and his Aunt several hours to spend with each other and fill the silence with something. They made small talk while music played on the radio for a little while, Luke talking about the classes he was going to take, and about meeting up with Leia at the station. His Aunt spoke about work and his Uncle, and things that had been going on with coworkers. Most of the time was filled with a comfortable silence and music from the radio. The softness of the music combined with the light drizzle of rain lulled Luke into sleep not too long after.

He awoke with a start not two hours later, after his Aunt drove over a nasty pothole that shook him into consciousness.

“You’re awake.” His Aunt said, smiling over at him.

“Are we almost there?” He asked, and his Aunt nodded.

There was silence for several minutes, Luke absentmindedly clenching and unclenching his hand, before his Aunt spoke up again. “Luke?” She asked.

Luke turned his gaze towards her, hand movement slowing. “Yeah?”

She took a deep breath, her gaze suddenly seeming miles away from Luke. “Did your….Uncle ever tell you, why we never had children of our own?”

Luke shook his head. His Uncle wasn’t one to talk about such personal things. “No, he didn’t.”

“When I was very young,” she started, her gaze still far away from the car they were in. Luke realized her gaze was probably fixed on an idea or memory from a very long time ago. 

“I got very sick.” She continued. “So sick that I had to stay in the hospital for a few months while the doctors tried to figure out what was making me so ill. They inevitably decided it was a really vicious fever brought on by working in the fields and unclean drinking water.” Luke listened intently to his Aunt’s words, the story putting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He began clenching his hand again.

“Whatever the case, I was never able to conceive after that. Me and your Uncle tried many times, but it just...never happened for us.” She took a deep intake of breath, features sagging with the weight of her memories. “When...When Anakin and Padme died, we were devastated. They were very close friends of us both, and to see their children without parents so soon after being born just tore me apart.” She looked over at him from the corner of her eye, smiling just slightly. “We had to take you in, Luke. There wasn’t any question about it.”

Luke’s cheeks reddened again. He wasn’t sure why his Aunt was telling him all this. 

“We would have taken in Leia, too, but we just didn’t have the money, so we let other friends of Anakin’s take her in. We thought about letting them take you, too, since they have so much more than us. But When I held you in my arms, well...I just couldn’t let them have you. I immediately loved you.”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck, waiting for his Aunt to finish.

“I still love you, Luke. I know....I know you never really saw me and Owen as your real parents, but we loved you like our son. I need you to know that.”

“I do, Beru. I do.” Luke said, but the information came as somewhat of a shock. He didn’t realize his Aunt and Uncle had cared so deeply for so long. He always assumed taking him in was more of a favor to his father than anything else. “I love you too.” It was hard for him to say, but he felt he needed to let his Aunt know. She deserved to hear it, he figured. “I’m gonna miss you. Owen too.”

“And we’ll miss you, sweety. Call us anytime, okay?”

“Okay.”

After that, it was quiet for the rest of the trip. Luke took the time to think about what his Aunt had said to him. He was very conflicted about it, if he was being perfectly honestly. Part of him was overjoyed to hear such affectionate things. Luke wouldn’t admit it, but he craved affection and praise almost desperately. His Aunt and Uncle were very conservative about things like that, and he hadn’t realized how hungry he was for the kind of praise and attention he had been given recently in light of him going to college. Even if it did make him blush a little to hear it.

The other side of him was angry. He wished she had told him that sooner. He wished he had the kind of relationship Leia had with her parents, which was loving and open. Luke always felt at an arm's length distance from his Aunt and Uncle. A distance he never felt he could walk across. 

He tried not to let the thoughts consume him. It was something he had to force himself to do a lot. He kind of hoped it was something he would grow out of.

They reached the train station not too long after that, and Luke and his Aunt got out of the car. Luke immediately went to get his bags and boxes, which he would have to figure out how to carry. “Thank’s, Beru.” He said, setting his bags on the ground momentarily.

“No problem, dear. You know I like long drives anyhow.”

 

“No, I mean, uh...” Luke said, looking down slightly, rubbing his neck. “Thank’s for taking me in and, uh, raising me...and stuff.” It sounded so stupid coming out of his mouth, but it was all he could think of to say.

His Aunt paused, looking at him like she hadn’t looked at him in a very long time. She pulled him into a very tight hug then, and Luke hugged back, patting her on the back. They stood like that for a while before his Aunt pulled back, Her eyes damp.

“You have a good time at school, sweetheart.”

“I will.” Luke said, before picking up his bags and heading towards his train.

-

The train ride was long and boring, and full of unimpressive scenery that blurred past him outside his window. He spent the time scribbling thoughts down in a notepad, and doodling. He had liked drawing, but didn’t think himself any good at it. He did a crude drawing of Leia with two ridiculous buns on each side of her head, a nod to how she never really wore her hair down, even when they would camp together. He drew another of himself and one more of a friend back home before he bored of the activity and went back to staring out the window. It was only several hours later and another short nap before he woke, the sky outside his window pitch black, and his watch reading that he was supposed to get to the station in about 15 minutes. 

Whenever he felt something really “big” was about to happen, his stomach would twist up in knots, which is what was happening to him right now. Once he stepped off this train, he would be entering a completely different world. The dusty Nevada desert he was familiar with would be replaced with rainy Oregon, full of towns and boardwalks and oceans.

Things he’d been waiting to see his whole life.

He got his bags as soon as the train stopped, trying to get out as fast as possible to see Leia. He didn’t want to keep her waiting, but was also itching to see her after not having gone on their usual camping trip that summer. They would have spent the summer together again this year, but there was just too much stuff that needed to be taken care of before the two went off to college.

He stepped out and looked at his surroundings. The train station had very few people, considering how late it was, and you could see some stars sparkling against the dark sky. It wasn’t long before he spotted Leia, though, leaning against a pillar with her arms crossed, looking right at Luke. She was smiling that familiar smile of hers, part mischief and part controlled, and had been waiting for him to notice her.

“Leia!” He said, trying to go over as fast as he could with all the crap he was carrying, before dropping his things and pulling her into a tight hug, swinging her around and around. Luke wasn’t very tall, only about 5’09, but Leia was even shorter, barely hitting 5’01. Scooping her up like that was no problem for Luke.

She laughed, hugging him back just as tight. “I missed you so much you big ham.” She said, kissing him on the cheek. “Now set me down, people might think we’re dating or something.”

Luke immediately set her down and made an exaggerated gagging sound in the back of his throat at the thought, before picking up his bags again. “That’s disgusting, Leia.” Luke elbowed her in the shoulder, laughing. “Did you wait here very long?” He asked as they started walking towards Leia’s beat up old Bug. She could have had any car, but why she chose this one, Luke would never know.

“Not really, I only got here about 10 minutes ago.” Leia said as they made it to her car, the sound of her heels clicking against the pavement echoing around them inside the station. Leia helped Luke haul boxes into the back of her trunk as she continued talking. “I would have been here sooner, but my car took forever to start. Kind of makes a weird sound when it runs, too.” Leia said, closing the trunk with a perplexed and frustrated look on her face, the kind she got whenever she couldn’t solve a problem, which was rarely. “I’ll have to take it in sometime this week. I don’t know where i’ll find the the time between classes, but I guess I don’t have a choice.” Leia said with a huff as she got into the car. She was taking on many more classes and extracurriculars than Luke was, and she already looked tired from it.

“I can take it in for you.” Luke said, smiling. He liked cars, and he liked talking cars with Mechanics whenever his Uncle took him along to get the family car fixed up. The activity was no chore for him. “I can take it in tomorrow if you want.”

“Don’t you want to unpack and get to know your roommate though? I don’t want to just make you my errand boy, at least not so early on in the school year.” Leia said, a smile playing on her lips.

“I can still do all that.” Luke said as he looked over at Leia. “You probably just need your oil changed or something. It probably won’t take very long, so i’ll do it around noon tomorrow, okay?”

“Thanks, Luke.” Leia said, and soon they were pulling into the parking lot in front of their new dorm. It was a tall, average looking building with many windows, some lit from the inside and some not. Luke was still taken with it though, since there weren’t many tall buildings in his home town, let alone tall buildings that housed hundreds of kids his age.

Him and Leia grabbed their bags, filled with what they would need for the night. “My dorm is in building 2 and the dorm number is 187, so just come by anytime tomorrow and we’ll grab the rest of your things, okay?” Leia said as they started towards the tall buildings.

“That’s right near my dorm.” Luke said.

“I know. I had some strings pulled.”

Luke walked Leia to her building and said goodbye to her before heading off to his own. He knew the dorm rooms were going to be unimpressive to say the least, but he was still excited to see them. His new room for the next year, ready to be made his own. And, well, his dorm mates. But he figured they’d split the room pretty 50/50. He wondered what his roommate would be like. Would he be very shy? Luke wouldn’t mind it if he was. He appreciated silence as much as he could appreciate someone more boisterous. Would be into the same things as him, or would he be completely different? Either way, Luke was welcome to a change of pace. Living with someone new was just the thing he needed.

When he finally walked up the two flights of stairs to his own dorm, he stood in front of the door for a second, wary. Would his roommate already be there? Would he be sleeping? He certainly didn’t want his first impression on his roommate to be one of him carelessly waking him up. He bit his lip in uncertainty before pulling out his key and slowly unlocking the door, before finally pushing it open.

The room was pitch black, and he hesitantly flicked on the light to see that...no one else was there. All that stood in the room were symmetrical sets of beds, bedside tables, desks, and dressers. The room was surprisingly large, and the walls were made of a very bright white brick. He was gonna have a hell of a time hanging his posters up later.

He stepped inside slowly, closing the door behind him as he set the things he was carrying down. One was a box that held his comforter and sheets, and the other had some clothes for two or three days. He would get more tomorrow, but right now all he wanted to do was sleep in a bed instead of in the seat of a moving vehicle.

He quickly made the bed, putting on the sheets and everything. He was used to the activity, his Aunt and Uncle having a “make the bed everyday before school” rule implemented in their house for several years. He hated it, but hey, at least now he could make a bed in under five minutes.

He was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow and the lights had been turned off, drifting off easily from the exhaustion of the day.


	3. Making waves across my time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And just like I said, here's the third chapter, just minutes after the second chapter! Poor Luke. Kid doesn't know how bad he's already got it for Han. Han and Luke's relationship will grow with time, and it'll definitely develop even more in the next chapter. Hope you like it! Also: Sorry if my writing is super Hokey. I'm cheesy. It's who I am. It's what I do.
> 
> ALSO as it turns out Mark Hamill's eyes are actually blue, not green (go figure), so i'm going to go back and change that one detail. Don't worry though, i'm not gonna go all George Lucas on you guys, everything else is staying the same.
> 
> Song for this chapter is Strange Magic. Don't forget to kudos, comment, or send me a message on tumblr if ur enjoying this fic.

Luke was woken abruptly the next morning by the noise of someone coming into his room and placing heavy boxes down on the floor, among other general moving-in sounds. He groaned, rubbing his eyes at the bright light coming in through the drapes. At least it was light outside, he thought, and not some ungodly hour before the sun had even come up.

“Oh, my, I’m terribly sorry to wake you.” Said an unfamiliar voice. A British voice, Luke noticed.

Luke opened his eyes a crack and. Yep. That’s the voice someone who looked the way this guy does would have. The first thing you notice is the golden blonde hair, combed over very neatly, the kind of haircut that screams “My mother packs me a lunch everyday.” From the hair down, Luke saw that the young man had very slim features. He had a very large nose for such a slight face, and pale blue eyes looking at him through large, round glasses. He had a thin mouth set in a worrying frown, and he wore the preppiest outfit Luke had ever seen. No, he thought, Leia was preppy. This was on another level entirely. He wore a golden yellow sweater vest with a white collared long sleeved shirt underneath, and a black tie. He also had on khaki shorts, knee length black socks, and loafers.

Alright, Luke thought, so his roommate was a weirdo. No sweat. He could handle it.

After a few long seconds of silence between them, the tall man continued on. “How rude of me to wake you, I hope you don’t think it too brash of me. Normally I would be much more quiet about things like this, But I simply couldn’t help myself with how heavy my boxes are.”

Luke blinked at him, letting him prattle on apologies, before finally the man switched gears, seeming to remember something.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, looking like he had just let his cookies burn or something. “Where in the world have my manners gone!” he outstretched his hand towards Luke, who was still laying in bed, staring up at him.

“My name is Christopher Padenton Orwell The Third” He said, as Luke finally outstretched his hand for him to shake. “I know, I know, truly it is a mouthful, despite being such a noble name, many of my colleagues lovingly bestowed upon me the nickname of “C-3PO”, or if you wanted to shorten it even more for time sake, just “3PO” would be perfectly fine.”

Luke blinked at him again, before finally speaking up, his hand still being shaken by the man in front of him

“I’m Luke.”

“Luke what, may I ask? Unless you don’t have a last name, in which case I am terribly sorry, what a dreadful thing that would be, not having a la-”

“Skywalker.” Luke said again, pulling his hand finally away from C-3PO. “My name is Luke Skywalker.”

“Ah, Skywalker.” 3PO said, smiling fondly. “And a lovely name it is. I do hope we can be friends. Again, I hope you do forgive me for barging in so loudly.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Luke said. So he was a weirdo, but at least he was a nice weirdo. And entertaining, too. That accent sounded straight out of a cartoon. Luke, too, hoped they would be friends.

“Hey, uh- 3PO? You got the time?” Luke asked, stretching out his arms as he let the covers fall into his lap.

“It’s about 9:30 right now, Luke.” He said, smiling.

“Okay, thanks.” Luke said as he started getting out of bed, rummaging through his bag of clothes to find some clean ones before he head out. “I need to take my sisters car into the shop, but i’ll probably be home around lunch or something. Maybe the three of us could go?” Luke said as he changed, while 3PO politely covered his eyes.

“My that does sound marvelous!” 3PO said, uncovering his eyes when Luke had finished. “Would it possibly be alright with you and your sister if I brought a friend of my own? He was ever such a help with getting my things up here.” 

Luke shrugged as he tied his shoes, not looking up. “Sure, go for it. Invite whoever you want.”

C-3PO practically beamed down at him. “How very kind of you to say so. Though I will only be inviting the one friend, I appreciate the sentiment nevertheless. I do believe we are going to be good friends, Luke.” 

Luke couldn’t help but smile. The guy had a charm to him, he supposed. “Me too. I’ll see you at noon.”

-

Leia had been right about her car sounding weird. He hadn’t noticed it when they were driving home from the station, but it quickly made itself noticed as Luke drove from his dorms to the nearest mechanic shop that was listed in the yellow pages.

Luke had gotten the keys from Leia after saying goodbye to C-3PO. Unsurprisingly, she had gotten up early to start unpacking things. Her room was a mess of books scattered everywhere, along with clothes, hair products, and other girly things he didn’t entirely mind being around. Her roommate was apparently “out at the moment”, but Leia said she was very nice. Luke said his roommate was nice as well, albeit a little eccentric. They finalized their plans for lunch before Luke had head out, Leia’s keys in hand. 

When he pulled up to the mechanics shop, a small thing nestled on the outskirts of a lively college town, Luke was greeted by what he assumed at first to be a small bear, but then realized was actually just the biggest dog he’d ever seen in his life. The dog’s fur was so shaggy and long that Luke wondered to himself if maybe it was actually just a normal sized dog, and it just really needed a haircut or something.

He hesitantly got out of the car, but soon realized that the dog was very friendly, as it happily bounded over to Luke and nudged at his good hand, licking at his fingers, tail wagging behind him.

“Hey, boy.” Luke said, smiling as he pet the dog’s head. The dog barked in response, happy at the attention.

“Looks like Chewie’s taken a liking towards you.”

Luke’s head snapped up, and suddenly he was face to face with a man he had never seen before. He had a full brunett head of hair and a playful smile on his face as he leaned down to pet what was assumably his dog. “He doesn’t come up to just anyone, you know.” The man said, looking up at Luke. “He’s very vicious. Aren’t you Chewie?” The dog responded by licking the man’s face and wagging his tail some more. “He’s usually very vicious.” The man repeated, standing up and wiping off his pants.

“I’m Han Solo, I run this shop here.” The taller man said, looking down at Luke. He had a good three or four inches on Luke. Luke wasn’t sure if it made him feel nervous or, well, he wasn’t sure how it made him feel.

“I’m...I’m Luke.” Luke said, his thoughts somehow suddenly scattered. He looked at the man before him, somewhat dumbfounded at what to say. He just looked so much different than all the guys his age back home. So much more seemingly collected than Wedge or Biggs or any of the boys he went to school with. He didn't like how it made him feel.

“You gonna tell me what you need fixed or you just gonna stare at me all day, Junior?” Han said after a few beats of silence, which broke Luke out of his trance. It’s just because he’s from a different state. That’s why he seems so different. That was it, Luke thought.

“My sister’s car is making a funny noise.” He said, pointing his thumb back at the car behind them. “Think you can do something about it?”

The man scoffed, a grin on his face as he looked the car up and down. “Kid, do you know who you’re talking to? I fix cars like her for breakfast. Bring her over and i’ll have her running right in no time.”

Luke did as Han said, still having a hard time tearing his eyes away from him. “It takes forever to start up, too.” He added as he got out of the now parked car and stepped into Han’s shop.

Luke stood to the sidelines as Han got under the car to take a look at everything. Han seemed to be maybe a few years older than Luke, and had very smooth, slightly tan looking skin. Probably from working on cars in the summer, he thought. He couldn’t quite tell under the dark blue jumpsuit the man wore, but he seemed to be somewhat muscular, as well. Probably from doing a lot of heavy lifting, he thought. They were the kind of fleeting thoughts Luke didn’t even notice he was having, as he observed the man do his job.

They made small talk as Han worked. “You new in town, kid?” Han asked from underneath Leia’s car.

“I am.” Luke said, smiling. “How’d you know?” Luke wondered if maybe this was the only auto repair shop in town, and Han happened to know everyone.

“You’ve gotta look about you.” Han said. “Like a tourist or somethin.” Han said, and Luke could hear the grimace in his voice.

Luke immediately came to his own defense. “I’m not a tourist!” Luke said, crossing his arms. “I’m here for college. And I’ve been here lots of times before anyhow.” Luke finished, but then added. “For camping and stuff.”

“Camping ain’t the same as actually living somewhere, kid.” Han said as he rolled out from under Leia’s car, grease smeared on his face.

“Well how long have you lived here, then?” Luke asked Han as he got up, and partly because he was mildly offended at Han's comment, but mostly because he was genuinely curious.

“Four years, just about.” Han said, wiping off his face. “Why’s it matter to you, shortstack?” Han asked, looking at him with searing eyes.

The intensity of his gaze intimidated Luke somewaht, and he rubbed his arm sheepishly. “I was just curious. You seem different than a lot of guys back home.” Luke shrugged, looking down slightly, and it was a much more genuine answer than Han was expecting. Han was questioned a lot by people who lived here for his scruffy looks and hard edge. Luke’s sincerity had caught him off guard, though he wouldn’t admit it.

He looked at Luke intently for another moment before his gaze softened slightly. The kid was just trying to make friends in a new town, he figured, and decided to reel it back a notch for him.

“Yeah, well, I came up here from California with Chewie a while back to find work as a mechanic or in construction, just something I could do with my hands. I guess dreams do come true, don’t they Junior?” Han said sarcastically, a cynical smile on his face.

“Could be worse.” Luke said, shrugging again, a small smile on his face. “Cars are cool. I wish I had been allowed to work on them more back home, but they didn’t offer an auto shop class at my high school. I’ve read lots of books and magazines though.” 

“Books.” Han repeated, looking at Luke. “Ain’t nothing in books that you can learn about cars, kid. Actually touchin em, figuring out how they tick. That’s how you get to know a car.” Han said, looking back at Leia’s car.

Luke’s smile faltered. “I guess I won’t learn much about them until I get my own, then.”

Han immediately felt bad about what he said. It wasn’t the kids fault he didn’t have a car or nothin. He tried to stop himself from saying what he was about to say, but the words started tumbling out of his mouth before he had a chance to realize what he was doing. 

“Well, if you really care so much about cars, maybe you could...come by, every now and again. See how it’s done. Usually kinda quiet this time of year anyway. Chewie wouldn’t mind having more people around to bug for attention.”

Luke immediately lit up, a giant smile spreading across his face. Han figured it couldn’t be such a bad thing, if it made the kid this happy. “Really? Can I come by tomorrow?” 

“Sure, if you want. Have you sister come by sometime this week too, will ya? There’s some internal damage to the transmission I gotta work on before I’m comfortable having someone drive it again. Gotta talk prices too, of course.”

“I’ll let her know.” Luke said, still smiling, and damn if it wasn’t infectious enough to get Han smiling a little, too. “I’ll be by after class tomorrow. Don’t start doing anything cool to Leia’s car without me, okay?”

“Sure kid, whatever you say.” Han said, as he moved to his work table to scribble something down on a piece of paper.

“Give me a call before you pull a surprise visit or anything though, will ya? I don’t like being disturbed out of the blue when I’m working. Gotta give me some time to make my hair look nice or something.” Han said, smirking at the boy as he took the paper from his hand.

“555-8894. -Han.” Was written on the paper in almost illegible handwriting. The slip of paper felt warm in Luke’s hand, and he grinned as he folded it up. “I will.” He said.

Han smiled down at the younger man. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Luke." Han had to physically dig the kids name out from all the nicknames he had buried it under, but was proud he had remember it.

Luke smiled and nodded, putting the paper in his pocket. “See you tomorrow.”


	4. California dreamin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot tell you guys how sorry I am for taking nearly a month to update this thing. I've been getting set up with online school and working a lot and it's just been a mess. I really do love this fic though, and I have a good idea for where I wanna take it, so i'm gonna try to update it once a week from now on (Keyword: Try). Anyways, thanks for sticking through it and leaving nice comments. Here's the fourth chapter, this chapters name is taken from the song California Dreamin' by the Mama's and Papa's.

“You think he’ll eventually let me start working on the cars, too?” Luke said across the table from Leia, mouth half full of french fries, words muffled. Luke had been more excited for his plans with Han than anything else since he had gotten there. He had been chewing Leia’s ear off about it all of lunch, and she had a sort of quirked grin on her face listening to it. 

“Maybe, if you’re on your best behavior.” Leia said teasingly, taking a sip of her shake.

“I’m serious, Leia. This is a really good opportunity for me.” Luke whined, crossing his arms. 

“I didn’t know you had such an interest in fixing up cars. I thought you just liked reading about them and looking at pictures of them and stuff.” Leia said. She couldn’t recall Luke ever expressing a desire to work on cars from all their times chatting on the phone. Drive one, sure, but with the way he was talking, you’d think his life goal was to be an auto engineer or something. Leia wasn’t entirely buying it.

“I totally like fixing cars!” Luke said, offended.

“Alright, alright.” Leia said, putting her hands up. “I’m glad you made a new friend. What was his name again?”

“Han.”

“Han? Well he sounds very nice. Just make sure you don’t distract him too much or my car will never get fixed.” Leia said, smirking as she took her lunch tray up and disposed of her trash.

“What in the world is that supposed to mean?” Luke asked, annoyed with Leia’s teasing.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just nice to see you excited about something, is all. You always sounded so down when I would call you before we left.” Leia continued as she took her purse from the booth they were sitting at, hovering over Luke. “I’m just glad to see my little brother happy.”

Luke softened at that, but tried not to let it show. “Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it.”

Leia grinned, stealing a fry off her brothers plate. “I have to get to my next class, but meet me around 5 and we can pick up some dinner. Invite your friend if you want, I’m curious to meet the person bogarting all my little brothers time away from me.” Leia said playfully, planting a kiss on the top of Luke’s head, messing up his blonde hair.

“Yeah, Okay.” Luke said, smiling. Nothing would have made him happier than for Han to join him and Leia for dinner, and he really hoped that Han would be up for it.

-

“Now you see how when I tighten this thing here, the oil flows easier?” Han said, not taking his eyes off the screw he was tightening. Him and Luke lay underneath Leia’s car, Han working on it and taking Luke through the process as Luke watched him intently.

“I do. It won’t get clogged up anymore, will it?” Luke said, eyes flitting back and forth between Han and the project above them as the older man fiddled with something. The whole thing was fascinating. Han had strong hands, but his fingers were very steady as he fixed something here, adjusted something there, and overall made sure everything was where it needed to be. Luke couldn’t help but admire Han’s handywork, wishing he was so talented in something like that, and wishing even more he had two good hands to do it with.

“It shouldn’t.” Han replied, pulling Luke from his thoughts. Han motioned for the boy to roll out from under the car as he did so himself, standing up and wiping the grime off his face. Luke did the same, brushing the hair out of his eyes and cleaning off his face.

“Should run like a charm now.” Han said, patting the car, fixing an admiring gaze upon it. “I take back what I said about her being a tin can. She’s a real beauty, once you get under the hood. Can tell she’s seen been a lot of places, seen a lot of things.” 

“It was a used car.” Luke said, mouth quirked up in a smile at Han’s seemingly unlimited fondness for cars. Han had taken several minutes to show Luke his most prized possession, A steel grey Dodge Challenger he had won in a game of poker off a friend, and had lovingly crafted into something “Out of this world, kid.” Luke had agreed that it was a magnificent car, though he didn’t have much to gauge that claim with. Han had promised to take him for a drive someday, as it apparently “drove like it was skating across water”. The promise drew excitement from Luke like nothing else, and Han had seemed pleased to get the kid so worked up. 

“Leia only got it when she turned 16. I doubt she’s driven it very much at all in the two years she’s had it.”

“That’s a damn shame.” Han said, shaking his head, still looking at the exterior of the car. “What’s the use of getting a car with so much character just to neglect the poor thing. It’s sacrilegious, if you’re asking me”.

Luke laughed, moving to stand next to Han in front of Leia’s car. “Whatever got you so into cars, anyhow?” Luke asked.

Han shrugged, wiping something off the hood of Leia’s car. “Just like em. Ain’t nothing more to it.”

Luke continued, unsatisfied with Han’s answer. “So how’d you get to be a mechanic then?”

Luke was surprised when Han answered him in earnest, turning around to face him as he leaned against the car.

“Started working here as a summer job when I came up here. Wasn’t very good at much stuff, but I was a fast learner and good with my hands, so the owner helped me out by letting me work in his shop. He didn’t have any kids when he died, so now the shop belongs to me.” Han got quiet for a second, before continuing. “Didn’t really think this is what i’d be doin five years ago. Once I started though, well, me and cars just vibe well with each other. Can’t hate something you mesh so well with, you know?”

“Yeah.” Luke said, thinking back on dusty books in his school’s library that he had read on old Pilots and aircrafts. “I think I know what you mean.”

Han nodded. “I'd bet anything you're good with your hands too. Got a real eye for technical stuff, I can tell.”

Luke was taken aback by the compliment, face heating up. “Well, I've kind of only got one hand to work with. I wouldn’t really count on that.”

“Well, i'd be anything you’re damn good with the one you have. Why don’t you come over again sometime this week and help me out around the shop, and we'll see if i'm right or not.” Han asked, mouth quirked up in a smile.

Luke brightened immediately, quick to jump on the chance to spend more time with Han and maybe even impress him with his "Eye for technical stuff". Luke also wanted to know even more about Han, about his time in California and running the shop. The choice for him was easy.

“Well sure Han, I'd love to." Luke said, trying to keep his voice even and cool. "Call me and let me know what time, okay?”

“Okay,” Han said, smiling wider. It was a real genuine smile, Luke noticed. Not something restrained or sarcastic. “I’ll call you tomorrow ‘round two.”

“Okay.” Luke said, smiling as well, before remembering something he had wanted to ask Han.

“Say, Han,” Luke started, leaning against the side of Leia’s car. “My sister Leia said you were welcome to get dinner with us, if you'd like.” Luke fiddled with the hem of his shirt, nervous that Han would decline. “You don’t have to or anything.”

Han laughed, clamping a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “Kid, relax, you’re not asking me to prom or nothin.” Luke blushed, averting his gaze from Han, but Han didn’t notice. “Your sister’s car over here was the only project I had lined up for today, so I s’pose nothing’s keeping me.” Han took his hand away from Luke’s shoulder, going over to his work bench and hanging up his tools. “And I guess it’ll be nice having dinner with people who don’t whine at your feet for scraps the whole time.”

Luke laughed then, nervousness gone. The past hour he had spent with Han had been so easy. Han did most of the talking, explaining things about cars and talking about the work he did with them. He was easy to understand, too. Sometimes when people knew more than you did, they used big words and terminology they knew you didn’t know, so you would ask more questions and make them look even smarter. It really grated on Luke’s nerves. But Han didn’t do anything like that, putting things into terms he knew Luke would understand. He figured he would have anyways, even if he did know a lot about cars. Han didn’t seem the guy to waste time with flowery descriptions and big words.

“We better head back soon then,” Luke said. “Leia won’t appreciate it if we’re late.”

-

The drive back was peaceful. Han had changed out of his work clothes before they left, and was now wearing a red flannel and comfortable jeans. Luke messed with the collar of his blue button down, feeling rather preppy compared to his friend. He hoped Han didn’t think he looked too much like a geek or something. He hoped maybe his loose fitting jeans and sneakers made up for it. He was pretty sure it didn’t.

Han fiddled with the radio until it landed on a song he liked. “See this, Luke.” Han said, gesturing towards the radio. “This is real music. Non’a that disco corporate crap they love playing now.” Han said with extra salt, making a face. 

Luke smiled, listening to the song playing. It was a loud, but not angry, kind of rock song, with lots of vocals shouting things in unison. The vocals sounded like they could be British, but sounded nothing like the Beatles. “It’s a good song.” Luke said, and he really did think so.

“It’s the Ramones, kid, and it’s the best band they still play on radio. Remind me to put on a record for you sometime. I’ve got all their songs on vinyl back at the shop.”

Luke nodded. He would have liked that very much. “We didn’t get a lot of radio signals back home.” He said, eyes on the road as he spoke. “Whatever came in was either static or pop music from ten years ago. I only had one good record the whole time I lived there.”

“Just one record?” Han said in disbelief. “Where did you grow up, anyway? The fucking desert?”

“I sure did.” Luke said.

Han looked at him for another second before laughing. “Fuck, you’re not kidding. Man, that musta been hard. I don’t miss California but at least there were things to do. At least you coulda gotten your hands on some good vinyl there.”

Luke looked to Han, turning into the parking lot of his and Leia’s dorm. “You have no idea, Han. That isn’t even the start of it.” 

“Tell me about it sometime.” Han said, getting out of the car, and walking beside Luke.

“Not much to tell.” Luke said as him and Han started towards Leia’s dorm. “Nevada doesn’t really lend itself to very interesting stories.” 

“Well,” Han began as they walked up the stairs towards Leia’s room. “Tell me anyways sometime, alright?” 

Luke’s mouth quirked into a smile, looking back at Han as they approached the door to Leia’s dorm. “I’ll think about it.” Luke quickly rapped his knuckles against Leia’s door, and a moment later it swung open.

Leia was not the person who opened the door, though, and Han and Luke were instead greeted by someone entirely different. A student, maybe? Luke hadn’t seen him around campus yet, and wondered how Leia could have possibly met him in the short time they had been here.

Han, apparently, had seen this man before, if the look on his face meant anything. “Lando Calrissian.” Han said, backing up a bit, looking at the man incredulously 

“Han Solo.” The man said, crossing his arms over his chest. He stared Han down with a steely look in his eye, as if waiting for an explanation as to why Han could possibly be there.

They stood like that, staring each other down with the intensity of wood ready to catch fire, before the other man, Lando, burst into laughter, pulling a surprised Han Solo into a hug, patting him heartily on the back.

“Man how you been! What could possibly bring you into a place of education?” Lando said, pulling back and looking over Han. Luke was relieved at the interaction, glad that the two men weren’t about to have a stand off.

Han pointed his thumb in Luke’s direction. “I’m here with Junior.” Lando gave Luke a look, before looking back to Han, eyebrows raised. Luke wasn’t sure what it meant, but Han seemed to understand, explaining himself further. “We’re just getting pizza with his sister. Why are you here?” Han asked, genuinely confused.

“I go here, believe it or not.” Lando said, and Han, genuinely, looked like he could not believe it. “And I guess I’ll be joining you for dinner.” Just then, Leia popped her head in, all smiles and unaware of the exchange that just took place. Her eyes flew to Han immediately, a knowing smile on her face.

“Oh, you must be Han.” Leia said. “Luke’s told me a lot about you. This is my friend Lando, I hope you don’t mind if he comes with us for pizza.”

Luke squinted his eyes at Leia for her remark about him, but it flew over Hans head as he looked from Leia, to Lando, to Luke, and back to Lando. “I don’t mind.” Is all he said, eyes finally landing back to Lando, a smile spreading on his face. It was genuine, but restrained. “I’m starving. Let’s head out already, huh?”

The four of them head out together, Han chatting it up with Lando while him and Leia walked behind them. Something about Lando...put Luke off, to an extent. He didn’t dislike him, by any means, he seemed like a perfectly personable guy. But the encounter that had just took place left Luke with a sort of bad taste in his mouth that he couldn’t put words to.

It was cold as they walked to the pizza place, and Luke brought his arms in closer to his body to possibly shield himself from the brisk Oregon air. The street they were on was quiet, save for Han and Lando’s talking and the sound of all their footsteps hitting the pavement. 

Leia started to hang back a little, and Luke followed suit, keeping her pace. She looked at him with a sly smile, nudging him in the arm. “So, what do you think?” Leia asked, smiling.

“What do I think about what?”

“About Lando. Isn’t he charming?” Leia asked, eyes lit up with excitement. “He’s cute, isn’t he?”

Luke was taken aback, lowering his voice. “Why are you asking me? I wouldn’t know anything about that sorta thing.”

Leia ignored him, continuing. “I met him in my English class. He’s really very smart. But he doesn’t have a big stick up his ass from knowing he’s smart.”

Luke looked back to Han and Lando in front of him, watching the way they talked to each other. “I don’t know, Leia.” He said. “Something’s off about that guy, I think.”

Leia watched Han and Lando as well, and then looked back to Luke, lips quirked as if she was keeping herself from laughing. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Luke.”

“He just gives me a funny feeling.”

“Honestly, whatever you’re worried about, don’t be.” Leia nudged Luke’s side, fastening her pace to catch up with the others. Luke rolled his eyes, doing the same. He knew Leia was right, but something was still bothering him about it all.

-

Han had seemed to be keeping one eye on Luke the whole time they had been there. Between chatting and bites of pizza, Han had kept flitting his eyes back towards Luke, but didn't say anything. It made Luke uneasy. Something was wrong with him, he figured, that had Han looking back at him so much. Maybe his shirt wasn't just geeky, but also ugly. Maybe his hair was sticking up weird like it did so often. Despite that, though, Luke was secretly pleased at the quiet attention Han was giving him. It wasn’t often someone as cool and mature as Han gave Luke this much attention, even in the form of held glances.

Aside from that, Luke was having a wonderful time. They all talked very comfortably together. Luke was able to ease up around Lando, once Han and him had done their bit of catching up, and had to agree with Leia later on that he was very smart but not in a self important kind of way. 

Luke almost felt like he was in a dream. The soft glow of the restaurants lights made everything a little fuzzy around the edges. It was the first time since the beginning of high school that Luke had sat comfortably with a group of people like this, and he wondered if this was maybe how everyone who had friends felt. Fleetingly, he thought maybe he could have had this sooner, had he been more sociable, or better in some way. Better in a lot of ways.

Luke shook the thoughts from his mind, startled by them. Now wasn’t the time. He was with friends. He was having fun.

Luke took a sip of his drink, letting himself think about other things. He wondered if maybe they looked like a still from a movie, or a snapshot hanging up in an old bar. Just a bunch of kids having fun. People without dimension. People just living in the moment.

Living in the moment. Luke snapped himself out of his thoughts, finally, finding himself in the middle of a conversation Leia and Han were having.

“That’s ridiculous, I don’t believe for a second you can do that.”

“You don’t know what I can do, Princess.” Han looked over to Luke, holding up a mozzarella stick from his plate. “Whaddya think, Luke, think I can swallow this whole thing in one bite?”

Luke blinked, before busting out laughing. It was such a strange thing to come from such a seemingly cool guy like Han. Luke shook his head, lowering Han’s hand. “I don’t want to be the one to call an ambulance when you choke on that and die, so, maybe don’t.”

“You see.” Leia said smugly, crossing her arms.

“Come on Lando, back me up on this one, you’ve seen me do it.”

“I’ve seen you swallow a string cheese, Solo. You can’t swallow that and expect to not die.”

“Some friends I’ve picked, then. Won’t even support me.” Han said in mock offense, before laughing. Everyone else laughed, too. Han looked at him again, and this time Luke looked back, not as apprehensive as before. Luke thought maybe this was the start of something really terrific, if he didn’t overthink it too much.

Yes, he thought, they would look just like a picture. If Luke could just stop running thoughts in his mind over and over and relax a bit, maybe his whole semester could be more like that.


End file.
